Media Release
Long-time teaching and patient centre closing its doors as new opportunities await
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Friday, March 1, 2019
After nearly four decades as a family medicine teaching unit and serving thousands of patients, the Family Medical Centre (FMC) in St. Boniface will be closing as of July 1. We will work with patients throughout this change to transfer their care to another setting.
“Our goal remains the health and care of patients,” said Gina Trinidad, Chief Health Operations Officer, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. “We will continue to work with all involved to navigate these changes and ensure patients and families have access to care in a new setting.”
Patients currently receiving care at FMC will be contacted about options available to match them with a care provider that best meets their needs. We have a dedicated phone line (204-258-1010) where patients can call should they have questions, starting Monday, March 4. As the transition draws closer, it remains paramount that transfers to new facilities cause as little disruption as possible.
Although the FMC is closing, we are maintaining our commitment to the training and education of future primary health care providers through the integrated ACCESS Centre network and its association with the University of Manitoba. “In recent years, there have been significant investments in new primary care infrastructure,” said José Francois, Head, Department of Family Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine University of Manitoba. “The re-distribution of FMC’s residency teaching mission will improve training experiences and expand opportunities for inter-professional education.”
“FMC has made significant contributions to the family medicine training in this province over its four decades of service to our community,” according to Martine Bouchard, President and CEO of St. Boniface Hospital, “and we wish to express our gratitude to all who have contributed to this mission – patients and caregivers alike.” Physician resources, along with the majority of staff resources will be redeployed within other primary care environments. The redeployment of staff and resources is a tremendous opportunity to add to the WRHA’s primary care teams and strengthen the service and care provided to patients.
The WRHA and the University of Manitoba Rady Faculty of Health Sciences continue to build a high-performing academic primary care network in Winnipeg to advance patient care, education, and research. This is an exciting new chapter that will shape the next generation of primary care providers.
Changes will be completed by June 30, 2019, which coincides with the end of the academic year.
